Got really bad XM signal, and sometimes no signal, today on the way home from work. Wondering if anyone else had any problems today.

 

Same here. I was just about to call XM and find out if there are signal issues before assuming it was my reciever. They likely would have blamed it on sunspots or Martians anyway.

Once again AZ members are THE source of information.

Let's check in tomorrow Godwhacker.

 

Same here. Terrible reception here in California today.

 

Heh....I thought they were foolin with me, trying to get me to sign up early!!!

Especially today when I needed the traffic info. Big rig spilled its load on one of the big roads I take on the way home and closed the whole road. Took me awhile to get around it. Luckily the route finding function on the Nav was unaffected, so I found a way around it.

 

NavTraffic was working fine for me (thankfully!). But XM music was like AM in the Holland Tunnel.

I'll try calling XM and see if there is any scoop, or just the usual pacification.

 

Yep. I was in my other car and wondered if my antenna had slipped under the cowling, or something! Glad it wasn't just me. Misery loves company.

 

Per 'Stan' at XM, it is a known issue. They have technicians working on it. Someting about transponders.

For all I know Dr Evil has commandeered the satellites for world domination.

 

Stan?

 

 

I will NOT tolerate your insolence, TampaRL....




Dr. Evil, VP hardware, XM Radio

 

same in chicago, trees were blocking reception. weird!

 

That must mean they were having problems with the satellite electronics (ie, the "transponders"). That is not good news-you can't simply send a repair guy to fix the satellite transponders unless he is Major Tom.

 

I received an e-mail informing me of the poor signal problem and they are hoping that it would be fixed early morning of Tuesday.

 

Yep same here in SoCal. Glad to hear its not just me.

 

Yep, got the email from XM myself. But to be super duper sure, I rigged up an old coat hanger to the shark fin.

And Dr Evil......Oh, BeeHave!

 

Yes same problem Went on line they have a problem s/b cleared-up tues.later am

 

I was going to post the exact thing...it's been poor for a few days.

Listening at a red light this morning, no trees, no buildings, no overhead wires, no clouds, no nothing...then no reception.

Glad it's a "known issue" and not the car. Hopefully they'll get it fixed quickly. Very frustrating.

LL

 

This is from the XM website:

5/21 Service Degradation

You may be experiencing temporary degraded performance with your XM reception at the present time. XM is aware of the issue and working diligently to resolve it as soon as possible. We anticipate full signal strength will be restored by early Tuesday morning.

LINK

LL

 

Noticed the same problem on the way into work this morning. Northwest Chicago suburbs.

 

Front page of the Washington Post Business Section

XM Satellite Radio Hit By Temporary Outage

By Mike Musgrove
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 22, 2007; Page D01

XM Satellite Radio was off the air for many subscribers yesterday.

The company experienced a technical problem that triggered an outage lasting most of the day, causing many listeners across the country to lose access to its programming.

The company blamed a software glitch for the interruption and did not say how many listeners lost their connections. XM subscribers pay $12.95 per month for access to more than 100 stations.

David Cavossa, executive director of the Satellite Industry Association said that satellites occasionally experience outages. "These are very complex machines," he said. "Once they're launched we can't just send the Maytag repairman up there."

Eric Gregerson, an XM subscriber, said he was listening to ESPN Radio at his office in Crystal City when the signal started cutting in and out and finally dropped off at 11:30 a.m. Gregerson said he had never noticed this sort of disruption in the two years he has subscribed to XM.

"It's definitely been different having silence around the office," said Gregerson, an employee of the U.S. Marshals Service. "I'm usually listening to something."

The satellite service didn't post any information about the outage to its Web site for most of the day. Many XM subscribers instead turned to independent Web sites such as XMFan.com, where the outage was the main topic. At the site, rumors about a possible cause ranged from solar flares to satellite hardware problems.

Wall Street did not appear to care. XM stock closed at $11.14, up about 2.5 percent.

Analyst William Kidd of Wedbush Morgan Securities wrote in a note to investors that he did not see much reason for XM shareholders to worry. "We are operating under the assumption that the satellite will soon resume broadcasting, making this issue a non-event."

 

Same problem in Atlanta yesterday. Thought it might be the "terrestrial transponders" (surface-based repeaters) that XM uses and Sirius does not.

Funny how you can come to AcuraZine for more relevant and updated info than from the vendor themselves...

 

Looks like everything's back to where it should be:

XM Radio Resumes Normal Levels of Service
XM Satellite Radio has resumed normal levels of service for customers who experienced outages or significantly degraded service starting yesterday.

The problem occurred during the loading of software to a critical component of the satellite broadcast system, which resulted in a temporary loss of signal from one of the company's satellites.

After you turn on your XM radio, please allow five to ten minutes to reacquire the XM signal.

XM apologizes for any inconvenience this has caused.

LINK

Worked fine for me earlier this afternoon.

LL

 

Damn! I thought it was the wire coat hanger I rigged to the sharkfin!

And I was soooooo proud of myself!

Yep, all is good in the XM world again.